Animalistic Love
by Mister Kitty
Summary: A young boy meets a half-human, half-snake man in the forest. What he doesn't know from that day forward, his life would never be the same, for better or perhaps even worse. AU.
1. Chapter 1

_~ Look before you leap, for snakes among sweet flowers do creep. - German Proverb ~_

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A long time ago, in a quaint village, lived a little boy who wanted everything. The sun, the moon, and every twinkling star. He dreamed of pirates and riches, knights and lavish castles. There were no limits to what he could do, at least inside his own mind.

_"Go away!"_ he yelled, swiping a stick at a rather large obese rat that was eating away at the slop thrown out onto the street. The small orphan boy sighed in relief and picked up the driest bits of moldy bread, even though they were still soaked with whatever was mixed in that several days old slop. Even the village's rodents ate better than a lost and unwanted child. Alfred didn't care though. The people in the village were suspicious of nearly everything. _Who knows what kind of misfortunes an orphan could bring to ones household.._

The boy couldn't really remember his parents. He was only an infant when the fire destroyed everything. After that, his grandmother had taken Alfred and his twin brother into her home, but sadly she died of the deadly epidemic this past winter. Matthew, the beautiful violet eyed boy, was luckily adopted and taken away by a well-to-do French family. He wasn't at all envious of his brother's new family or of the warm bed, the precious food... Alfred coughed and gripped his stomach, painfully heaving up what little he had eaten. No, he was happy that Matthew didn't have to suffer like this, that he didn't have to plead to the heavens just to live another day, in hopes of something better.

When Alfred wasn't wandering about for food or exploring the nearby caves, he would curl himself up in his basket and use a ragged brown cloth as a blanket. Sometimes, he even liked to carry his basket out to a clearing and fall asleep under the starry sky.

Finally feeling a little better, the boy stood up and stumbled over to his basket. _"I'm gonna go be a_ _famous explorer!"_ he exclaimed, taking a hold of his basket and dragging it behind him. The market streets were bustling were people who were buying and selling this and that. Arguments and random chaos were seemingly on every corner, frightening the young child. He picked up his pace, almost leaving his little mobile home behind.

The one thing the little boy loved the most was the deep green forest that surrounded the village. It was so big and mysterious. His eyes widened, as he took in every tree, every brightly colored bird that flew overhead. It was almost magical. He paused at the entrance of the forest and peered up at the trees, trying to capture their full height. _"..So big,"_ he whispered in awe. _"I wish I could be that tall.."_

Alfred felt a strong sense of adventure come over him and he continued forward through the thickness of the trees. The forest smelled so fresh and so brand new compared to the filth of the overcrowded village. Maybe this was like heaven. The only noises he heard were of birds and the rustling leaves from the light, gentle wind that had just started to blow. As far as he knew, there were no dangers here, only peace and serenity.

Time quickly passed and soon the sun began to set over the horizon. Alfred was having so much fun leaping to tree to tree, plucking pretty wildflowers and placing them inside his basket. Every now and then a deer or some other kind of animal would cross his path, not taking much interest in the child's presence. He watched in sheer amazement as the animals would wander off and disappear into the distance. As long as he could remember, he always loved animals of every kind. Although he never had a pet of his own, it was something he always wanted.

Alfred grunted and tugged at his basket, struggling to pull it over some fallen trees and jagged rocks on the the forest floor. Just a few feet ahead of him was a small clearing, though oddly enough it was encircled by large stones, each arranged too perfectly for it to be a natural occurrence. Anyone else would have been suspicious, but Alfred was still so carefree and didn't think much of it. Carefully, he picked up his basket and carried it over the stones to the center of the clearing. By that time, the sun was almost hidden from view, which meant total darkness would soon swallow up the forest and the lonely little boy who tucked himself to bed inside his makeshift bed.

When the sun had finally risen the next morning, Alfred awoke to a pair of deep emerald green eyes staring down intensely at him. These weren't normal eyes of a human. They looked exactly like the eyes of a serpent. His tiny body was frozen in fear and he was completely terrified at first. It wasn't a snake, or at least not the familiar looking ones he had seen before in the village. The creature that surrounded little Alfred's basket had the top half of a man and the rest of him was a body of a snake. Alfred was now completely fascinated. The snake man had golden blond hair that only complimented his mysterious, and yet devious eyes. His eyebrows looked kind of funny though, he thought. Maybe he had some caterpillar connections in him or something.

"_Ah, it looks like breakfast has been delivered to me this morning.. You look like a tasty tart,"_ hissed the hybrid, tightening his squeeze on the basket with his body. _"Much better than the measly rabbits I've been eating lately."_

"_What's your name?"_ asked the child, as if he didn't hear the other talk about eating him for breakfast like he would any other kind of forest animal.

The being narrowed his eyes in confusion. No one ever asked him his name before. Most would instantly turn to run or even try to kill him, but this kid didn't do anything except stare at him with his big sea blue eyes and ask silly questions.

_...What's your name?_

_Hmph._

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**A/N: This has been published before, but I wasn't completely satisfied with it. **


	2. Chapter 2

"_Have you always been..a snake, Arthur?" _asked the boy curiously, poking and running his short, chubby fingers on the dark green scales of the man's body. Alfred glanced up at the other, his face full of confusion and unbridled wonder.

"_You always been a human, haven't you?"_ Arthur retorted, a displeased expression taking over his features. He did not like the fact that the child had gotten out of his basket and immediately crawled onto his back like he was sort of plaything. Damn it. He was one of the most feared creatures, but apparently not to this loud, smelly brat.

Alfred giggled childishly, as was expected, and hugged onto Arthur's coiled body, feeling the heat emitting off of his scales from the early morning sunlight. _"Yeah, but I asked you first.."_ said the almost too cheery boy, as he nodded his head firmly. _"When someone asks a question, you're suppose to answer first." _

"_Simple minded brat," _complained Arthur, trying and failing at rolling his inhuman eyes far back into his head. His morning was already ruined. Even he wasn't so heartless enough to eat small child who gave him a somewhat one-sided conversation. He wasn't that hungry, anyway. Besides, what little appetite was there before, was now long gone.

Arthur's lips twisted into a devilish smirk. If he couldn't eat the brat, then maybe.. Well, not yet. In a few years, but not while Alfred was still a mere hatchling. _"..Hey, Alfred, would you like to visit my den?"_ Arthur questioned, acting in a more pleasant manner, even reaching out to pet the young, messy blond's head.

The child's head shot up quickly. _"Yes! ..Wait, what's a den?"_ He blinked, rocking mindlessly back and forth on Arthur, like he was pony or something.

"_My den is what I call home. Unlike an ordinary snake,"_ He began, plucking the youngster off of him and placing him on the ground directly in front of his face. _" I live in a cave and it's full of pretty things..like gold and silver. There are shiny blue rocks too, though your eyes are more_ _spectacular than they are.." _

Alfred was practically beaming at this point. _"You have treasure?! Show me! Show me! Show me!"_ He begged, bouncing up and down enthusiastically, tugging on Arthur's arm.

"_Alright, fine,"_ the male sighed, beginning to become annoyed with the kid once more. _"Get on my back, but absolutely no jumping. Stay still or else." _

"_Or else what?"_

"_I'll feed you bugs.."_

_**Time skip.. **_

Once they finally reached Arthur's personal cave, Alfred's eyes lit up in amazement at how much treasure the funny talking snake man had. Piles of pure golden coins were everywhere, gems of every color and shape adorned the naturally formed shelves in the cave walls. Silver and much, much more were literally in every nook and cranny. Even more amazing was the fact that this was only the opening of the well hidden cave, more of the precious items were to be found throughout the deep, winding dwelling.

"_There's..There's so much.." _stammered the boy in shock. Arthur said he had treasure, but this was more than any one kingdom might possibly have. Was Arthur was kind of snake pirate or something? Alfred shrugged it off. This was like something from his dreams, minus the whole snake thing, of course. Arthur slithered himself and the wide eyed child to the main back of the cave and crawled onto the soft bedding that was encircled by a small stream of freshwater. _"..So you live alone with all this?"_ Alfred asked, being gently tossed over onto a red satin pillow.

"_...Indeed, I do.."_ Arthur narrowed his eyes, searching the cave with disdain. He had more than enough of everything that was thought to be precious in the eyes of a human, but to him it was simply dissatisfying. Suddenly, his attention was directed on the small child once more. _"Alfred, how about we make a deal.. You can have all of this you see, in exchange for a special relationship in the future.." _He was careful how he worded his offer, making sure Alfred didn't know what he meant exactly by a special relationship.

Alfred looked up at him for a few moments, before nodding his head wildly._ "Okay! I've always wanted to be rich! With all this gold, I could live in a huge castle on a mountain top!" _

"_Then it's settled. You will become a little, rich prince in your own right," _chuckled Arthur, a huge grin on his face, revealing two pointy and very sharp fangs_. "Now let's make a sign of agreement. Please, do hold still.."_

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**A/N: Why is Alfred such an adorable child..? oAo **


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